Matthew wrote to show that Christ
was the
Messiah and fulfilled the Jewish prophecies.

The
eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered
them. When they all saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Then
Jesus approached and said to them, "All power in heaven and on earth has been
given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching
them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you
always, until the end of the age."

There
is an old and rather annoying joke about the devout Protestant who dies and is
met by St. Peter at the pearly gates for a tour of heaven. As the tour
goes, on St. Peter points out all the different denominations, Lutherans,
Methodists, Presbyterians and so forth. As they come to a certain group
way off to themselves, St. Peter draws the man closer and whispers, "Now, for
this next group, we need to be really quiet. They are the Catholics and
they think they're the only ones here."

Good
jukes are funny because of certain clever contrasts with the truth. But
some attempts at humor, like this one, fail because of muddled logic and a
distortion of the truth. This joke fails because, verily, there is no need
for faith in heaven. The joke takes a needless swipe of the Catholic
understanding of the Faith as the "true religion." A faith and moral
doctrines of a religion - or aspects of a religion - are either true or false.

Christ
identifies Himself as the "way, the truth and the life." The early Church
was known simply as "the Way." In every time, the Magisterium of the
Catholic Church, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, proclaims "Fullness of
Truth" of Jesus Christ. Every soul upon entering eternity is measured
against the definitive revelation of the truth of Christ. In acknowledging
the truth of faith, one becomes more accountable, not less. If the
Catholic Faith is true (as Catholics ought to believe), then when the fullness
of truth is revealed on the day of judgment to every soul - Catholic or
non-Catholic - the Catholic Faith will be validated as true. The same
logic (in terms of expectations) holds for anyone who thoughtfully subscribes to
any religion. Why would anyone be Lutheran or Muslim or Hindi if he
harbored any significant doubts as to the ultimate truth of the religion, a
truth that must be definitively validated upon entering eternity?

The
insistence that the truths of the Catholic Faith are validated in heaven (and
hell, for that matter), upon close inspection, does not suggest that
non-Catholics of goodwill cannot be saved. In particular cases it could be
argued that a devout non=-Catholic is doing the will of the Father more
perfectly than many Catholics. Equally consistent with the truth "heaven
validates the truths of the Catholic Faith" is to insist that it is beyond our
authority and competence to declare the condemnation of this or that person.
Christ Himself warns, "Judge not and ye shall not be judged" Catholics are
in the business of proclaiming salvation in Christ, not condemning anyone to
hell. One hopes Judas and Hitler and Osama bin Laden - that
good-for-nothing off ice manager - made it (or will make it) to heaven.
But if not, only God knows. And if they fell short of eternal bliss (to
use a euphemism), God's justice is served.

Contemplating
the reality and prospect of hell is sobering. There are real consequences
for willfully avoiding ultimate questions about our existence and the meaning of
a good life. Every Catholic, for example, must confront a personal
inadequacy in understanding the Catholic Faith. Priests frequently must
correct penitents who regularly receive Communion at Mass despite their
objective mortal sins: invalid marriages, deliberately missing Mass with an
insufficient reason, the usual sexual sins, etc. Day by day, Catholics are
obliged to deepen their understanding of the Faith and purify goodwill with the
express purpose, at minimum, of avoiding fires of hell.

In
this week's Gospel, Christ asserts before His ascension into heaven, "All power
in heaven and on earth has been given to me." If true, the way of Christ
is not only worth proclaiming; His way is an imperative. Our reasons and
conclusions may be flawed. Our understanding of our faith may be far too
vague. But there is no joke in the demand Christ places on us: "Go,
therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that
I have commanded you."